Warming up

 

Task I. Consider the following problem and give your opinion of it.

 

The issue of punishment is the focus of great debate. The debate involves the question: “What is punishment for?”

There are four possible answers to the question:

Which of them would you agree to?

 

1. The main aim of punishment is to deter.

2. The main aim of punishment is to take revenge

3. The main aim of punishment is to keep criminals out of society.

4. The main aim of punishment is to reform and rehabilitate criminals.

 

Vocabulary notes

1.	Offence –	правонарушение
2.	An offender= A wrongdoer –	правонарушитель
3.	A law breaker –	правонарушитель
4.	Detention –	задержание, арест
5.	Deterrent –	сдерживающее средство
6.	To deter smbd from doing smth. –	удерживать от совершения чего-либо
7.	To rehabilitate –	восстанавливать в правах
8.	To impose a fine –	наложить штраф
9.	Penalty –	наказание
10.	Light penalty –	легкое наказание
11.	Mild penalty –	мягкое наказание
12.	Severe penalty –	строгое наказание
13.	Death penalty = Capital punishment –	смертная казнь
14.	Corporal punishment –	телесное наказание
15.	Life imprisonment –	пожизненное заключение
16.	Custody –	содержание под стражей
17.	To take smbd into custody –	взять кого-то под стражу
18.	Probation –	испытательный срок
19.	To imprison –	заключать в тюрьму
20.	Sentence –	приговор
21.	To receive a sentence –	быть приговоренным
22.	Death sentence –	приговор о смертной казни
23.	Life time sentence –	приговор о пожизненном заключении
24.	Suspended sentence –	приговор с отсрочкой исполнения
25.	To pronounce a sentence –	объявлять меру наказания
26.	To pass a sentence –	выносить приговор
27.	To sustain a sentence –	отсрочить исполнение приговора
28.	To serve a sentence –	отбывать наказание
29.	Punishment -	наказание
30.	To abolish capital punishment –	отменить смертную казнь
31.	To carry out a punishment –	привести в исполнение
32.	To deprive somebody of life –	лишить кого-то жизни
33.	Community service –	исправительно-трудовые работы

 

Reading

Task I. Read and translate the following text. Write out the types of punishment currently used.

Civil and Criminal Penalties

There are several kinds of punishment available to the courts. In civil cases, the most common punishment is a fine. For criminal offenses fines are also often used when the offense is not a very serious one and when the offender has not been in trouble before. Another kind of punishment available in some countries is community service. This requires the offender to do a certain amount of unpaid work, usually for a social institution such as a hospital. For more serious crimes the usual punishment is imprisonment. Some prison sentences are suspended: the offender is not sent to prison if he keeps out of trouble for a fixed period of time, but if he does offend again both the suspended sentence and any new one will be imposed.

The length of sentences varies from a few days to a lifetime. However, a life sentence may allow the prisoner to be released after a suitably long period if a review (parole) board agrees his detention no longer serves a purpose.

In some countries there is also corporal punishment (physical). In Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, among others, courts may sentence offenders to be caned or whipped. In Saudi Arabia theft and possession of alcohol may be punished by cutting off the offender's hand or foot. The ultimate penalty is death (capital punishment). It is carried out by hanging (Kenya, for example); electrocution, gassing or lethal injection (U.S.); beheading or stoning (Saudi Arabia); or shooting (China). Although most countries still have a death penalty, 35 (including almost every European nation) have abolished it; 18 retain it only for exceptional crimes such as wartime offences; and 27 no longer carry out executions even when a death sentence has been passed. In other words, almost half the countries of the world have ceased to use the death penalty [2].